Neither Rain Nor Snow Nor Gloom Of Night…

IcedT ghost writing for Clavin.

13 Pax (2 from Gastonia) came out this morning in support of a Gastonia Pax who I personally work with.  With Gastonia being close by it only makes sense that every once and a while we should have a guest Q from that region to shake things up and find out how different regions operate.

Clavin opened with the pledge of allegiance and did a disclaimer and he started the COP right away with 5 Burpees/SSHx10/4 Burpees/Imperial Walkersx11/3 Burpees/Moroccan NightClubx12/2Burpees/LBC’sx10/1 Burpee

We then mosey’d on over to the side of the building where Clavin said his region was in a bit of a first F rut with every workout seeming to be the same so he had us do 5 Burpees/25 Big Boy’s/25 ‘merkins/25 Scorpion Dry Docks(both feet). Then we went to the Green Monster.

We continued the same bunch of exercises(however he Omaha’d 50 Scorpion CDD’s to just 25) on top of the hill, in the middle of the hill, on bottom of the hill, middle of the hill, top of the hill. With the Pax being smoked we mosey’d on over to the back parking lot where we did rugby sprints.  One Pax calls out an exercise and once he is satisfied we all run to first cone, run back, then sprint to far cone and walk back where another Pax calls a different exercise.  The Gastonia boys were introduced to the Kraken Burpee(thanks Royale) and other general F3 exercise’s.  We then mosey’d on back for COT.

Prayers for the mass shooting victims and all victims of violence.  We all must admit we live in a violent world but rejoice in the fact that there is strength in numbers and that is where F3 comes in. Traveling prayers and family prayers also. Thanks Clavin for coming on down to lead. Peace!

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Smiles for Miles

Going to start off saying I REALLY hate running, but when you get together with a good group of guys you just don’t think about what your doing you just do. That is what happened today. I took a Sub-Q at the Swamp and knew that this was a great place to get some running done. I’ve posted here many times within my 5 months of joining F3, and this place has always given me the ability to excel in running. So I figured that is what I’m going to base my Q off of. RUNNING.

So here is the workout.

LOTS of running. To be precise 3.14, but whose counting.

We mosey to Home Depot for a quick warm up.

Some windmills, Moroccan night clubs,  and some Imperial Walkers.

After the quick warm up we did a lot of running. We hit Pain Stations at Kohl’s, Ulta Beauty, Old Navy, and at Mattress Store. At these locations we did various exercises focused on abs and chest only. These were OYO stations. Counts varied from 5-30 depending on workout. Always hitting both body parts at each station. Sometimes twice. That was just the first lap. That’s right we completed 2 laps around the Swamp.

Hitting the second lap we did Pain Stations at Kohl’s, and Ulta Beauty with again doing ab and chest work outs. After Ulta Beauty, running low on time we made our round back to COT running up 160 to the CVS entrance and back to Best Buy.

These guys did awesome. Without having the accountability and push of each other this could have sucked more so than it did. When I started I couldn’t even run 1 mile without walking some. With the push of all these guys at all AO’s I can do a lot more than I ever thought I could. This Q is an example of that. Again as I stated above I HATE running, but with these guys it’s not running it’s just something I really don’t have words for other than family time.

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Something to Crow About

14 PAX held down the fort while site Q iced T was DR doing a Spartan race.

Q-drenaline was strong with YHC, as the M is DR the next couple days, followed by a family vacation, so limited posting the next couple weeks.

Started off with a mosey (aka sprint) to the upper courtyard for COP
MNC x 20
2 burpees
LSS x 10
4 burpees
Windmills x 10
8 burpees
Peter Parkers x 10
16 burpees

Mosey back to front rock pile
Grab heavy Rock for three rounds of:
15 OHP, 15 Bent over rows, 15 goblet squats
After each round/crab walk to road closed sign, bear crawl/overhead carry w/ overhead hold while waiting for the six

Mosey down to jungle gym
2 pull ups, monkey bar around the loop, 2 pull ups, down

Mosey to lower courtyard for Dora 123
100 Derkins
200 Dips
300 Step ups (didnt quite get to 200)
Partner 1 did exercise while 2 ran down the hill and nured back up.

Two lines of Indian run back to COT
Got back early, so decided to get in as much Merkin around the world (1 merkin rotate, 2 merkins, rotate, etc) as we could, made it to about 10 before calling time.

COT
New Wednesday AO for Lake Wylie
Read your newsletter

Thanks iced T for the opportunity to lead and great push from the PAX.

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Q School Week 3

We’ve had some pleasant mornings this week and I was thankful that today was no different. I was grateful for temperatures in the upper 60’s and lower humidity.  It felt great out there.

Anyways, enough about the weather.  More importantly it was the final week of Q school and I was honored to take the lead for the “Advanced Q’ing” 201 class.

Royale and Wildthing took the previous 2 weeks and did an excellent job of explaining all the fundamentals and the “How”.  Royale took that a step further last week and really focused on preparing and having a back-up plan in case things went wrong.  I tried to answer the “Why” a bit more today along with some review of the important aspects of the previous weeks and tie it all up nice and tidy while delivering a message with the workout.  This is an “advanced”  way that we can push our boundaries even further, beyond the fitness aspect, and try to give the PAX some insight and motivation along with the workout.  Not unlike our “Beyond” workouts that we have occasionally.

Today started the same as any other workout, with a better than normal disclaimer and “Why” it is important.  F3 is an organization that isn’t liable and week after week we tend to gloss over this when we see the usual crowd.  In any case, it is part of what makes up the core of an F3 workout and needs to be addressed.

After the disclaimer we took a mosey around the track and did some toy soldiers and karaoke’s before circling up.

I reviewed with the PAX what “F3” stands for and went over the mission statement and 5 core principals,

Just so we’re clear, for anyone reading this, here is that info in print:

  • F3 – Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.  The first 2 are pretty self explanatory, the 3rd isn’t tied to any specific religion, but a belief in something outside oneself.
  • F3 Mission statement – “Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.”
  • 5 Core Principals
      • Are free of charge
      • Are open to all men
      • Are held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold
      • Are led by men who participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary
      • End with a Circle of Trust

I don’t normally do lengthy CoP style warm-ups, but since the emphasis was on teaching today  we circled up.  I went over some more of the “Why” behind why cadence is important.

  • It creates rhythm
  • Promotes teamwork
  • Discourages budgeting your energy since the count is unknown

I called out some Merkins and Windmills and then called on a few of our newer PAX to call cadence for an exercise of their choice that I can no longer remember.  Ooops.

While I still had their attention I talked a little bit more about some Q responsibilities.

  • Q’ing should be taken seriously.  PAX want to complete the workout and feel invigorated and ready to take on their day, which leads my to my next point…
  • …Workouts are not built for the benefit of the Q, but for the PAX!
  • “If you can’t do it, don’t Q it!”.  Stick to your strengths. Your workout plan or “Weinke” should be an outline and not set in stone.  Adapt as needed and always have a backup plan.

Now back to that message and 1st routine.  The message was “How do we grow?”  F3 is really all about growth and finding those things that make us uncomfortable and sad and addressing them with the help and support of all the brothers of the morning gloom.  Everything we do is a continued attempt to push ourselves into the unknown, into discomfort.  We’re going to fail, that’s a part of life, but fortunately it’s also a requirement for growth.  This isn’t new news, we workout our muscles until failure, they heal and become strong. This is true for pretty much all aspects of life.  I shared a quote with the PAX from Calvin Coolidge that I liked;

“All growth depends upon activity.  There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means WORK”.

Now on to the 1st routine to get some WORK done.

Paula Abdul’s

10 cones were setup about 10 yards apart.  We would crawl 2 cones forward, do 5 merkins, and crawl bear backwards 1 cone and perform 10 squats.  We would continue in this fashion until hitting the 10th cone.  2 forward, 1 back, and always doing merkins when going forward and squats when going backwards.

Everyone made it to the end with a little extra push from the PAX that finished first.  “Picking up the Six” and/or assigning someone to do so is another great idea that was shared with the PAX today.

I shared some more insight and quotes with the PAX.  How being comfortable leads to boredom, self-absorption, and discontent.  F3 has a name for this of course, the “Sad Clown”.  We can combat this by not only be seeking out discomfort, but embracing it.  The secret to success lies in all the things we’re trying to avoid.  I then called on some experienced PAX to share some personal growth on things that used to make them uncomfortable, but they now can do without difficulty.

Back to WORK

Gasser’s (formally known as suicides)

The same 10 cones we just crawled through taking the scenic route we would now use for some gasser’s.  Pretty self-explanatory here, but for a little icing we would increment Burpees each time we got back to the start.  1 cone/1 Burpee, 2 cones/2 Burpees… and we ended at the 10th cone/10 Burpees. The 10th cone was about 100 yards down field.

While we all caught our breath, I took the opportunity to drive home the point of delivering the message with a workout.  We’re all unique and have specific strengths and weaknesses.  We can simply tap into our strengths and deliver them during the workout.  One man’s strength is another man’s weakness and we can utilize this group of people to deliver that message.  This is how we hold each other accountable.  This is how we grow.  This is F3.

I then told the PAX we would make our way back down the field where we started this journey the same way we came, Paula/Bearcrawls.  We made it to about the 8th cone or so before I called and it we mosey’d back to the flag and circled up for CoT and a few reminders for the future Q’s of our region.

  • Workouts should start and begin on-time
  • Backblasts are not only a responsibility of the Q, but a requirement!
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help, we’re all in this together

We then finished up as we always do by counting off, name-a-rama, and announcements, praises, and prayers.

Homebrew, thanks again for the privilege to teach today.  It was an honor.

Until next time,

-FLUX-

 

 

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Reminisce about the “Pain”theon

I haven’t been to one of my old favorite AOs in WAY to long.  We start to get spoiled with so many great  F3 options that it gets easy to stay close to home. I love Funhouse’s idea of Ass Kickin’ April and getting out to 30 different AOs during the month.  I challenge each of you to answer the call and post to a different AO and meet some new PAX once every few weeks!

So when I was asked to Q again at the Pantheon I answered the call.  I started DMing some of the Lake Wylie guys to see if they wanted to come with me and we had several show up this morning too!  I was quite surprised to see 24 PAX there at 5:15…. two were FNGs EH’d by Bones and two were 2.0s that Uber brought with him.  The FNGs were named “Grout” and “Safe Word”, respectively.  ALL of them did great on a challenging workout today.  Sorry to the 6 men that were cut out of the video Namorama.  I recalled 3 from my terrible memory, but 3 have been left off the tags…comment below and I’ll add you.

The Thang

Long disclaimer with new FNGs

Dynamic Warmup Lap

COP with SSHs – Imperial Walkers – CDDs – LS Squats – Merkins – Windmills – Mountain Climbers

I pulled some of my old favorite Weinkes from the Pantheon and put them together.

Evolution #1

Took two lanterns with me and we moseyed to the graded hill on the NE corner. Love that hill area and we did “8s” (because 7s is too hard of math for me it seems..)

Bottom of Hill 1 Bomb Jack

Top 7 Merkins

up and down the hill switching until you hit 7 Bomb jacks and 1 merkin

Evolution #2

I celebrated my one year anniversary back in 2016 at the Pantheon as Q.  I pulled out this terrible idea and we did it again.

Burpee Celebration

I counted in year 1 that I went to 147 workouts that year.  We would do the following.

17 burpees to start

Complete a lap in the parking lot

10 burpees at the start until we completed 13 laps. (10 x 13 = 130) + 17 = 147 burpees

With only 25 minutes of time that was a little ambitious.  Many finished 9 laps.  Some +/- 1 lap…

6am back to COT

Got to name our FNGs, Todd and Jason…both did great today.  Todd went first, said something about having a safe word after a pineapples reference that came from living in Hawaii…that was it for him…

Jason does sales somehow related to tile splash or tiles…Grout stuck!

Announcements – Prayers and time to go!

Thanks Bear Grylls and Fish Sticks for having me come out and share.  I really enjoyed being a part of the Pillars of Pantheon series as well!  Great idea and addition.

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

 

 

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High Intensity SeaLegs

The gloom was dark and the air was thick with humidity.  Any sane person would be under the covers giving their M’s a dutch oven, but not these brave Pax, oh no. Myself and three other  High Impact Men of F3 Lake Wylie/The Fort resisted the urge to do the easier thing and gathered themselves to SeaLegs for a high intensity beatdown the likes of which SeaLegs has never seen before(that’s probably an exaggeration).

A disclaimer was given (I’m not a professional/can’t sue me, the school, F3, the nature preserve, yada yada yada). Fun fact Yada means “to know” in Hebrew. I see what Seinfeld was doing there. We then proceeded with a warm up.  A warm up? At SeaLegs? Isn’t running a warm up? I say no and I was the Q so I directly ripped off Cha Ching’s parking lot agility drills from yesterdays CrowsNest Q and implemented them to my own Q. Run up a parking lot stripe/side shuffle over to other parking lot stripe/nur back down/rinse and repeat throughout SeaLegs parking lot. Now that’s a warm up.

We then did a routine run from the back of the school to the back of McDowell Nature Preserve and back. Just because it is routine does not make it easy however.  By this time all the Pax were glistening with sweat, wondering to themselves “is this over yet”, but no, there was 19 minutes left and I was just getting started.

The next evolution of the workout was to go to the bottom of the Abyss hill, sprint up it then run the track once, come back, rinse and repeat till we got a mile in, which we did.  At this point there was still 7 minutes on the clock and we still had work to do.

We once again went down the hill and Nur’d up twice then sprinted up it once.  We then ran back to COT where we did 3 light post to light post sprints to finish the workout strong.  Hushka said we got 4.2 miles in, all at different intensities, which to me was a job well done by all the PAX.

Observations- SeaLegs is a hidden gem amongst the AO’s of Lake Wylie/The Fort.  There are hills for days there which makes you a better runner, which makes your bootcamps easier, which makes your overall fitness better.  This AO should be attended at least once a month if not more so, despite the competing AO’s. Give Haushka your support!

Prayers for teachers for the upcoming year, Omaha learning how to drive and making the Cross Country team at his school, and general daily anxiety for everyone.  Prayers for me at Spartan Race this Sunday(I heard the Sweati was harder so I should be fine). Thanks Haushka  for the opportunity to lead. Peace!

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Q School 201 – The Weinke at Bermuda Triangle

I was the privileged Q that was able to lead week #2 of Q school following behind Wild Thing.  I got to the AO 10 minutes early to set up, guys were already pre-running… nobody ever seems to sleep in Lake Wylie!  By the 5am start we had 18 PAX with us.  Uber all the way from Tega Cay, one PAX, Crabby Cabbie – only on his second post to F3! I opened by sharing some of this message below.  Being the Q starts with being prepared.

Preparedness

There are four quadrants of preparedness: get right, live right, lead right and leave right “G3L” 

F3 is an Organization of leaders rather than an Organization with leaders. As such, every Member of F3 is asked and expected to be a leader both within F3 and in the other Groups in which he is a Member. This ethic arises from our Mission , which is to plant, serve and grow men’s small workout groups in order to invigorate male community leadership.

Within F3 a leader is called the Q, which we define as a leader who takes responsibility for the Outcome in the Groups of which he is a Member.

Some Outcomes are envisioned beforehand by the Q while others are thrust upon him by unexpected and sudden circumstance. For envisioned Outcomes, the Q can anticipate and get prepared for what will be expected of him to be Effective. But the Q cannot do that for unexpected Outcomes because they come upon him suddenly—for those Outcomes he must already be prepared to be Effective.

How do you prepare?

“The Weinke” – named after Panther QB, Chris Weinke (Carolina QB from 2001-2006) where he would have every play in a giant playbook on his arm.

Scout the AO – Check the Weather report – Check previous Backblasts for regular PAX in attendance

PREPARE! Doras, Ladders, partner work, stations, coupons

My 1st few Qs I wrote the COP exercises in permanent marker on my arm…

Write it down, keep it handy but try not to use it.

Create Evolutions!  Have more than you will use. 3-5 depending on complexity

Make it Tough, but a balance is needed for all level PAX.  Have an adaption plan in place.  Guys failing to work hard, get them back in line or adjust.

Adapt = tell a PAX what is OK to modify to.  Can’t sprint?  Jog ½ way and turn around.

Give the PAX a choice! Option #1 or #2

BE CONFIDENT – SPEAK LOUD – DON’T GIVE UP YOUR CONTROL – YOUR TIME TO LEAD!

 

WEINKE FOR BERMUDA TRIANGLE 7/19/2019 Q SCHOOL 201 (Full example)

Welcome each PAX

Disclaimer

Dynamic Warmup High Knees – Butt Kickers – Toy Soldiers – Soccer Legs out & In

COP

SSHs – IWs – CDDs – Merkins – LS Squats – Seal Jacks – Peter Parkers – MNCs – Broga

 

Evolution #1  BB Court

Partners modified LAZY DORA size does not matter

100 Swing Crunches – Partner Elbow Planks (in grass)

To BB Court

150 Merkins by 10s  – Partner Planks

200 Squats 25x – partner hold Al Gore

Alternative under picnic area

Dips and Derkins with Step Ups

 

Evolution #2

Speed Work

Field Sprints 4 cones plank when complete repeat 3x

Alternative

Bear Crawl to #2 or Jog to #3

 

Evolution #3 (Ran out of Time – Did not do, but had at the ready)

Bear Crawls and burpees between cones 5 burpees each cone

Alternative Lunges and Wide Arm Merkins or CDDs

 

Evolution #4 Ab Lab

Give all Pax another opportunity to count cadence

COT with Count, Namorama, Announcements, Prayers

I think the guys enjoyed the time together, maybe learned a little something to take to their next Q, and definitely worked hard!

A honor to lead,

Royale

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Me Hearties Take on the Poopdeck, argh!

Sixteen of the roughest, toughest Pax, along with an experienced FNG (Coach Steve, now and forever known as “Trench”) joined YHC on a steamy morning at the Poopdeck.  Here is how it went down:

Warm – o- rama

  • Short mosey around the Bowl-n-Bounce, peppered with Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers & High Knees
  • 10 Wind Mills IC
  • 20 SSH, IC
  • 10 LSS IC
  • 10 Sungods forward, IC, 10 backwards

The Thang, Part 1

We divided in to 3 groups for a three stage beat down; each group completes all of the exercises in the stage together, then takes a short lap to the next stage.  Each group completes all three stages twice:

Stage 1

  • 10 Jump squats
  • 10 single count curls/arm (25 lb dumbell)
  • 20 Nolan Ryan’s (10/side)
  • 25 LBCs (single count)

Stage 2

  • 10 Lunges per leg
  • 10 WWII Sit ups
  • 10 Tricep hammers/ arm (20 lb dumbell)
  • 10 Diamond merkins

Stage 3

  • 25 SSH
  • 20 Flutters (per leg)
  • 15 Derkins
  • 25 CDDs

The Thang, Part deaux

Partner up to knock out this list, one exercising, one taking a parking lot mosey:

  • 100 Lunges
  • 75 Ranger Merkins
  • 75 Bobby Hurley Squats
  • 75 Carolina Dry docks
  • 75 Crab Cakes
  • 75 Werkins
  • 75 Monkey Humpers
  • 100 LBCs
  • 40 Flying Squirrels

I don’t think anyone made it past the dry docks before we called Omaha for some Mary (flutters, Freddy Mercuries, American Hammers, all IC)

COT:

Reminder of the Sweati set to take place this Saturday; 3rd F prayers at the local schools in the planning stage; Q-School at Bermuda Triangle continues on Friday.

Wolverine took us out.  As ever, I’m grateful for this group of men, and the chance to lead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lake Wylie Q-School 101

Class is session with YHC at the helm for Q School 101 in Lake Wylie. Today’s Lesson Plan: Disclaimer, 5 Core Principles, Counting Cadence, Scouting an AO and a little bit of pain.

Starting promptly at 0515 we dropped to plank to discuss some Q basics: Make sure someone has a phone and knows the general area. Brief discussion of F3 Roundtable call with PAX from F3 Houston. If you haven’t listened to it, do it. Just not on the way to work or around people that would judge you for crying. Next up the Disclaimer. One often missed part of the disclaimer is asking about existing injuries, which coincides with knowing what injuries or medical issues PAX may have and if any PAX are CPR or Medically Trained.

Mosey to the back parking lot of the school for COP, counting cadence, and the 5 core principles. PAX were much happier with this COP than my previous Q.

Mosey back around to the front of school for a lunge walk across the parking lot while discussing ways and tools for scouting an AO. Google Maps, Backblasts, drive-bys, and previous posts were mentioned.

Continue to mosey over to the start of the “dirt” path for one of my favorite partner evolutions, Bear Crawl Catch Me if You Can. This is was the pain portion of the morning. Partner 1 starts to Bear Crawl while Partner 2 drops for 3 Burpees and then runs to catch Partner 1. YHC quickly learned that this is not a dirt path, but one covered with glass like shards of rock.

Quick 10 Count to let PAX catch wind

Mosey towards COT for a modified DORA with 50 Prison Cell Burpees, 100 Squats, 150 4 count flutters. Admittedly YHC was a little over ambitious and we only made through the Burpees before the bell rang at 0600 for us to go to our next class.

Quick discussion about elements of a COT: Count-a-rama, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Shout-Out / Words of Wisdom. Followed by COT

Announcements: The Sweati on 7/20, Bones Q at The Deep 7/20, Royale has Q School 201 on 7/19.
Prayers / Praises: Capt Jack daughter with strep, FiA Launch, Ms, 2.0s

Until Next Time, Wild Thing out.

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Virtuous Leadership at Crows Nest

15 men made it out to Crow’s Nest.  Here’s what they did.  Sorry to hear that Survey Says had to leave because he rolled his ankle during the pre-run.

COP

IWs – CDDs – SSHs – Ranger Merkins – Broga – MNCs – Mountain Climbers

Evolution #1

Mosey to brink columns that fence in the front playground

Partner Up

5 Muscle Ups

Partner does Merkins AMRAP

Rotate through 6 rounds. Those muscle ups got sketchy towards 25-30…

Next we planked in the front parking lot to Review the 5 Cs of Virtuous Leadership that we went over in Q Source Saturday.

The universal Essentials for a Shared Leadership Team’s (SLT) F3’s Leadership Virtues:

  • Candor: graciously telling the hard Truth and demanding to hear it from others
  • Commitment: unwavering loyalty to the Group and unflinching determination to accomplish its Mission
  • Consistency: to be unchanging in nature, Standard or effect over time
  • Contentment: stability of emotion engendered by the Consistent pursuit of Joy rather than Happiness
  • Courage: setting aside fear to turn hardship into grace

Hopefully, not much needs to be said in explanation of why the Leadership Virtues are Essential to every SLT. Just imagine trying to share Leadership with a man who does not tell the Truth, is constantly changing his Standards or is emotionally unstable. It simply cannot be done.

Mosey to back of school

Evolution #2

Round 1

Run to loading dock, jump up, complete 5 Squats

Partner Lunges AMRAP

Completed 4 rounds

Round 2

Run to Loading Dock, jump up, 5 Merkins

Partner doing Pull ups at playground

Sucked too bad so were only  completed 2 rounds

Round 3

Run to Loading Dock, jump up, 5 Merkins

Partner America Hammers

Completed 2 Rounds

Checked with the group on the 5 Cs of Virtuous Leadership

They got all 5 as a group – Saved themselves from a severe burpee penalty

Mosey towards front of school

Evolution #3

Wall sits with 25 overhead press in cadence

BTTW 30 secs counted by 3x random PAX

Wall sits with 25 overhead press in cadence

BTTW 30 secs counted by 3x random PAX

Mosey to COT right on time!

Announcements

The Sweati this weekend

Discussed the great FiA launch in Lake Wylie from the previous weekend. Guys are already getting FiA’d from this…what have we done?!?!

Prayers:

For PAX healing, two injuries today from Costanza’s pulled quad to Survey Says ankle. Got to be careful out here men!

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

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